TRAVELS AMONG EUROPE’S MUSLIM NEIGHBOURS THE QUEST FOR DEMOCRACY JOOST LAGENDIJK JAN MARINUS WIERSMA CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN POLICY STUDIES BRUSSELS The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is an independent policy research institute based in Brussels. Its mission is to produce sound analytical research leading to constructive solutions to the challenges facing Europe today. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors writing in a personal capacity and do not necessarily reflect those of CEPS or any other institution with which the authors are associated. Originally published as Sturen bij de Moslimburen. Hoe Europa de democratie kan bevorderen by uitgeverij Bert Bakker, Amsterdam, November 2007. Updated for the English edition in March 2008. ISBN-13: 978-92-9079-778-4 © Copyright 2008, Centre for European Policy Studies and Joost Lagendijk & Jan Marinus Wiersma. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the prior permission of the Centre for European Policy Studies. Centre for European Policy Studies Place du Congrès 1, B-1000 Brussels Tel: 32 (0) 2 229.39.11 Fax: 32 (0) 2 219.41.51 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.ceps.eu FOREWORD CEPS is very happy to publish this book, since it fits perfectly with our new series on Islam and the European Union. In 2007 CEPS published its first two edited volumes on Islamic issues, one on the internal challenges for European society represented by the new Muslim minorities,1 and the second on political Islam in the Mediterranean Arab states and Turkey.2 The second of these books is close in subject matter but quite complementary to the present work, which was originally published in Dutch by two Members of the European Parliament, Joost Lagendijk and Jan Marinus Wiersma. Both books look at democratic political parties of the Mediterranean region with Islamist foundations or origins. They are both investigating the ideologies, ambitions and views of Islamist parties that aspire to political power through the ballot box, and who reject violent political action, radical Islamic ideology and authoritarianism. The earlier CEPS book was based on structured interviews with Muslim democrat leaders of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey. The present book delves into the same subject matter in four countries - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Egypt and Morocco. However the method of the present book is quite different. The authors travelled extensively in the four countries and conducted interviews with a wide range of key individuals. The accounts they give are more free-flowing with ideas, and often quite vivid in describing the context, from the coffee shop in Bosnia to the Islamist leader’s apartment in Rabat. 1 European Islam – Challenges for Society and Public Policy, Michael Emerson and Richard Youngs (eds), CEPS, 2007. 2 Political Islam and European Foreign Policy – Perspectives from Muslim Democrats of the Mediterranean, Samir Amghar, Amel Boubekeur and Michael Emerson (eds), CEPS, 2007. The authors have an underlying theme, that of the quest for democracy on the part of these Muslim democrat parties. The special place of Turkey is well analysed, both for its centuries of Ottoman influence in the Balkans through to the careful interest in the role model of the AKP party as perceived by the Muslim democrats of Egypt and Morocco. In conclusion the authors do not hesitate to affirm their bottom line positions on two matters of strategic importance to the European Union. They advocate Turkey’s accession to the EU in due course, conditioned on the usual criteria for EU membership. They also urge the EU institutions and member states to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Muslim democrat parties of the Mediterranean states. This presents no problem in Turkey or Bosnia. But it is still the norm for the EU to ignore the parties in the Arab Mediterranean states in deference to the preferences of the authoritarian kings or presidents of the region. Interestingly, these two positions on Turkish accession and on engaging with Arab Muslim democrats enjoy majority support in the European Parliament; but the majority of public opinion in the EU is against Turkish accession, and the majority of EU member states still appear to ignore the Muslim democrat parties. This in itself makes the book a significant political statement in the midst of the cross-currents among the EU institutions and in European public opinion, as well as a highly readable and informative analysis of this topical and complex issue. Michael Emerson CEPS Associate Senior Research Fellow April 2008 CONTENTS Introduction............................................................................................................ 1 1. Muslims in the Balkans: A Special Report ............................................. 10 2. Turkey Fundamentally Divided: Beleaguered Secularists and Modernising Islamists .............................................................................. 35 3. Morocco Undecided: After the reforms, democracy?........................... 62 4. Stalemate in Egypt: In Search of the Real Brothers............................... 81 5. Steering with One Hand Tied Behind Our Back: Some Suggestions for Moving Forward ............................................................................... 101 Literature ............................................................................................................ 131 About the Authors............................................................................................. 136 Acknowledgements........................................................................................... 137 INTRODUCTION Ring “A ring of friends surrounding the Union […], from Morocco to Russia”.3 This is how, in late 2002, the then President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, described the key challenge facing Europe following the planned enlargement of 2004. The accession process had built up momentum, and the former communist countries of Central Europe had been stabilised and were transforming themselves into democracies. EU membership was not directly on the agenda for countries beyond the enlargement horizon, however. How could Europe prevent new dividing lines forming at its borders? How could the European Union guarantee stability, security and peace along its perimeter? Those questions were perhaps most pertinent to the EU’s southern neighbours. Since 11 September 2001, in particular, our relations with the Islamic world have been imbued with a sense of urgency. Political developments in our Islamic neighbour countries bordering the Mediterranean could have a tremendous impact on European security. Although the area is nearby, the political distance is great. Amid threatening language about a ‘clash of civilisations’, the EU quickly drew the conclusion that conciliation and cooperation, rather than confrontation, constituted the best strategy for dealing with its southern neighbours. The idea was a kind of ‘enlargement lite’: a long-term strategy to strengthen cooperation, with the focus on economic cooperation and trade, dialogue and gradual political reform. In the long run, Europe’s neighbours 3 Romano Prodi (2002) “A Wider Europe – A Proximity Policy as the key to stability”, speech given at the Sixth ECSA-World Conference, Brussels, 5-6 December. | 1 2 | INTRODUCTION would be able to participate in everything, as it were, except the European institutions themselves. This ever closer cooperation would be based on shared values: democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. This line of thought came to form the basis of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Barcelona Did this not sound familiar? In the mid-1990s the EU and its Mediterranean neighbours laid down very ambitious plans, which they called the “Barcelona Process”. This was a time of optimism. The 1993 Oslo Accords had not yet collapsed. A solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seemed to be in sight. The Cold War was over, and democracy and the free market system were gaining ground. Europe would be able to help North Africa and the Middle East, too, take a great stride towards freedom, prosperity and democracy. The Barcelona Declaration was signed in November 1995 by the EU and 12 Mediterranean countries, including Morocco, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian territories. This declaration held out the prospect of a ‘Euro- Mediterranean Partnership’, with three pillars: a political and security component, an economic and financial aspect, and social and cultural rapprochement. One of the objectives was a Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area by 2010. It was the first pillar, however – a kind of ‘security pact’ – that was the most eye-catching: not only because all countries made a commitment to working towards peaceful relations, but also because democracy and human rights were recognised by all parties as necessary preconditions for lasting security and stability. These were noble objectives and honourable ideas, but did they work in practice? What is the situation as regards democracy among the EU’s Mediterranean neighbours? Elections are indeed held, but there is definitely room for improvement in circumstances such as freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Electoral fraud and intimidation are the rule rather than the exception; not that this makes a great